Maspeth resident Eric Rojas was spray-painting a smiley face on the garage while he had a marijuana cigarette in his mouth when he was arrested….

According to Captain Chris Manson, officers at the 104th Precinct made an arrest while following up on an “Eyesore of the Week” published in the Queens Ledger.

The Captain assigned the 104th Precinct ‘conditions team’ to remove graffiti on a residential garage across from I.S. 73 on 71st Street near Grand Avenue, after seeing the spot in the Ledger, however when they arrived police observed 18-year-old Eric Rojas vandalizing it.

Conditions Officer Ronald York made the arrest on Dec. 28, one night after receiving a copy of the paper in his mailbox from Manson.

“I did the cleanup the next day,” York said. “It’s all cleaned up now, but I’ll drive by again. As of last Friday, it’s still clean.”

York added that Rojas was spray-painting a “smiley face with a joint in his mouth,” on the same part of the building pictured the week before in the paper.

“There was graffiti all over that building,” Manson recalled when he opened the paper. “I saw it and ripped it out and put it in his mailbox. He goes over there the next night and there’s the guy doing the graffiti art. What are the chances?”

Any merchants that wish to donate paints or supplies to the 104th Precinct’s graffiti cleanup efforts, contact Community Affairs Detective Thomas Bell at (718) 386-2431.